Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs will do battle to stay alive in the AFLW finals race on Sunday, with the Pies passing Ruby Schleicher fit for the elimination final.
Schleicher has overcome injury to reach the 50-game milestone for the do-or-die clash.
For the Dogs, this is the club’s first finals appearance since they claimed the premiership back in 2018.
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Eliza James nailed an absolute ripping goal to get Collingwood on the board first, atoning for her earlier miss when she streamed into goal.
James had been in two minds and appeared set for the bounce before opting for a shot on goal that sailed wide from 15m out.
But she learnt from that moment minutes later to land the early blow.
Ash Brazill almost had Collingwood’s second goal when she had a roost from just inside 50, but Bulldog Isabella Grant got hands to it on the goalline.
“The Dogs are locked in their back half,” commentator Jason Bennett said.
“The bounce of the ball at the moment is with the Pies.”
“The Collingwood defenders are actually owning the outside,” Libby Birch added.
The Pies were peppering the goals early but couldn’t find their second in the elimination final, as Steph Chiocci hit the post from 25m.
By quarter time, it was Collingwood leading 1.6 (12) to 0.
MAGPIES TAKE UNDERDOGS TAG
Despite finishing higher of the two teams on the ladder, Magpie Steph Chiocci says her side is going in as “underdogs”.
“No one rates us – to be fair we haven’t really beaten any one in the top eight so that means we’re underdogs,” she said.
“But that’s OK because we know our best footy is more than good enough to match it with the best.
“The sky’s the limit.”
For the Bulldogs, this is the club’s first AFLW finals appearance since they claimed the 2018 premiership.
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But coach Nathan Burke says 2022 isn’t about gaining experience.
“There’s no guarantees next year we’ll be back. We’re not after experience here – it’s bloody hard to get to finals. When you’re on them, get on a roll and try and win it. That’s our mindset,” coach Nathan Burke said.
“Collingwood is step one. We want to go to step two, step three and step four after that.”
Premiership-winning Bulldog Bailey Hunt says despite just six players from that victory still on the list, the confidence is there for Sunday’s clash.
“The past two seasons we’ve just sort of missed out on finals, sitting just outside that top six, so it’s really good this year that we’re in it and back playing finals footy,” Hunt said on SEN.
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“(Coach) Burkey mentioned to us that you don’t want to be playing your best football at the start of the season. I suppose that’s with any sport – you want to be hitting your straps towards the end of the season when finals are coming up.
“Having the past three wins in the lead-up to finals too, is really good for our confidence and knowing what we’re capable of doing.
“We’re reaping the rewards now and playing some really good footy together – I can only really see improvement from here.”
